Commode-seat cover



K. POTSCHNER.

COMMODE SEAT COVER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 1919.

1 3 77,791 0 Patemm May M), 19211.

l0 #40 Y Y zzgzf 3 nvemtoz KARL POTSCHN, 0F DQ'VER, OHIO.

GUM'MODE-SEAT COVER.

earner.

I "0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KARL Po'rsoHNnn, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Dover, in the county of Tuscarawas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in commode-Seat Covers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to protective covers for commode seats, and particularly to covers which are made of thin paper designed to be placed over the closet seat and so cut, scored and otherwise formed as to provide protective flaps extending down into the opening of the seat.

The general object of my invention is to provide a cover of this character which is very simple and cheaply made, which may be readily placed in position and which will function perfectly for the purposes intended.

A further object is to provide a device of this character of such form that it may be folded into a compact package for disposal within a cabinet and that it may be drawn from the cabinet easily and unfolded as it is drawn therefrom, thus eliminating the necessity of unfolding the packet by hand.

A further object is to provide a device of this character in which the cuts are so disposed and the paper so folded that when strain is placed lengthwise upon the paper, the paper will be bound to tear in a direetion across the middle of the paper and transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof and in tearing will form forward and rear flaps which, because of the ,folds in the paper, will extend downward and will naturally take a position downward into the opening in the seat, a further object in this connection being to so form the paper sheet that when it is torn to provide front and rear flaps, side flaps will be formed that will extend down over the edge of the seat opening.

A further object is to so construct this protective covering that whenit is pulled and the paper torn along the lines of least resistance, the flaps, as before remarked, will drop down into the opening in the seat and thus hold the protective cover which is made of very light, thin paper from being blown away.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

Specification of Letters Patent.

fine, thin but strong paper of such Patented May 1N1 1921.

application filed June 7, 1919. Serial No. 3412395.,

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Flgure l is a face view of one form of my protective cover;

Fig. 2 1s a like view of a slightly modified form;

Fig. 3 is a like view of another modified form;

Fig. 4 is a face view of the cover after it has been torn for use;

F 1g. 5 is a perspective View of the cover previous to its being torn.

Referring to these drawings, and particularly to Fig. 1, 1O designates a sheet of very quality that it may be readily flushed away when it has been used. This sheet is oblong in form and slightly longer than it iswide, so as to extend over the area of the closet seat. The

paper is preferably formed with two longitudinally extending cuts 11. These cuts may extend parallel to each other, but preferably are converged toward each other and toward the forward end of the cover in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1.

Midway of the cuts 11 there is a relatively short transverse cut 12. This is the simplest form of my device but in Fig. 2 I show a construction wherein the cut 12 extends nearly to the cuts 11 and slight additional cuts 13 are disposed in line with the transverse cut 12 but beyond or intersecting the cuts 11 so that when the paper is pulled longitudinally, the paper on the line of the cuts 12 and 13 will be extended to form one long cut extending transversely of the paper and intersecting the cuts 11. In Fig. 3, T show another slight modification wherein the sheet 10 is provided with longitudinally extending cuts 11, the medially disposed cut 12 and with perforations 14 intersecting the cuts 11 in line with the cut 12. It will be understood that in place of the perforations 14, the paper might be scored or weakened along the line indicated by the perforations 14 and the same result would be secured.

With the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, it is only necessary to apply pressure at one end of the sheet, as for instance by placing the finger at the point X and thenpulling at the point Y and immediately the paper will tear along the transverse line of the cut 12. The paper will tear laterally and the cut 12 will extend laterally until it intersects or meets the longitudinal cuts 11. This is true ,of every one of the several forms illustrated. When this has occurred the sheet will have the form illus trated in Fig. 4 to provide the forward and rear flaps A and B and the lateral relatively shallow flaps C and D.

I design that this sheet of paper shall be folded as indicated in Fig. 5. The sheet is folded at its middle along the line of the cut 12 and then again folded transversely so as to intersect the cuts 11 slightly inward of their ends. The distance between the end of the sheet X and the first fold is equal to the distance of said first fold and the middle of the sheet on the line 12. This cut 12 is not exactly at the middle of the sheet and therefore the extremity of the sheet is folded on the line 15. It will be seen that the sheet folded as described is disposed in five layers, the last layer being relatively short.

These folds illustrated in Fig. 5, have a still greater merit. It will be noticed that the center of the sheet, that is, that portion of the sheet on the cut 12, naturally falls downward. Thus, after the sheet has been longitudinally pulled to extend the cut 12 transversely across the cuts 11, the flaps A and B will drop downward into the inside of the commode. If a slight wrinkle over the fold should hold either flap up temporarily, a touch of the hand will smooth it down or a slight pull from the opposite end of the fold will straighten the fold and the flap will drop into position. There is no possible wa in which the flaps can stay up.

lihasmuch as these flaps are caused to project by the folds in the paper, they will drop down into the opening of the seat and grip the inside of the seat so as to prevent the thin sheet of paper from being blown away before a person has time to sit on it. In former devices this objection has been overcome by providing clamps for the sheets of paper, or by providing outwardly extending'pegs, upon which the paper was forced. These devlces are objectionable and the necessity for these devices is entirely done away with by my device.

It will further be seen that the flaps A and B which are the main protective flaps, are relatively large and are located at the very places where protection is most needed, both to prevent the seat from being soiled and for obvious protection. The peculiar shape of the cuts and of the folds allows the cover to conform nicely to the seat when it is sat on. It is of particular moment with my device that one single pull longitudinally on the sheet shall cause the cut 12 to open up slightly at right angles to the line of tension allowing the sheet to stretch, so that all the tension will be exerted at the extreme ends of the cut 12. The scores, perforations, or weakened line 13 or 14 must break, under these circumstances, and the paper cannot tear at any other point than on the line of the out 12. It wil be seen that in order to make absolutely certain that so thin a material paper shall break on a line, score or perforation, it is necessary that the line of tension be exactly at right angles with the line along Which it shall tear or break.

Where the line of weakening, that is, the line of perforation or a line caused by scorlng is curved or angular, there is a very marked tendency for the paper to break at right angles to the line of tension in spite of such perforation or weakening. This causes a very high percentage of Waste in any sheet so formed that the line on which it is to be torn is not at right angles to the line of tension.

It will be seen that this construction of sheet is extremely simple, that it is so cut, scored, perforated or weakened that it is bound to tear on a line extending transversely of the cuts 11 to thus provide the main flaps A and B and the lateral smaller flaps C and D and that it is so folded that these flaps A and B will, of their own weight and because of the folds, tend to drop downward into the opening in the seat. Furthermore, the folds are such that the sheet will unfold so as to be in condition for instant use and that the sheet is put into use by simply holding the sheet in place at the point X and pulling on the end Y.

If the sheet should be folded in any other way except the one illustrated,Ifind the flaps become rigid along the lines where the folds cross them and would refuse to bend any other way except the way they were folded, making the device still less reliable than if it had no folds at all. It will, therefore,,be seen that these folds, as illustrated in Fi 5 are a very important feature of my inv ntion, because the folds cause the flaps A and B to function properly.

I claim 1. A protective cover for commode seats consisting of a sheet of thin paper having two longitudinally extending cuts, approximately parallel to each other, and a transverse cut disposed between but not intersecting the parallel cuts and so located that when longitudinal strain is placed upon the sheet of paper across the transverse cut, the paper will tear transversely from the transverse cut, in opposite directions to the longitudinal cuts.

2. A protective cover for commode seats comprising an approximately rectangular sheet of paper formed with a air of longitudinally extending cuts, sliglitly converging toward the forward edge of the aper, the paper being weakened transverse y between said cuts, so that it will tear transversely to the cuts when it is pulled longitudinally.

3. A protective cover for commode seats comprising a sheet of thin paper having two i arr rer approximately parallel, longitudinally extending cuts, and a transverse out between the longitudinal cuts and disposed nearer to one edge of the paper than. the other, and so located that when longitudinal strain is placed upon the sheet of paper across the transverse out, the paper will tear transversely from the transverse cut, in opposite directions to the longitudinal cuts, the paper being folded transversely along the line of the transverse out, that portion of the sheet above the transverse out being folded in half transversely, the line of fold intersecting the longitudinal cuts inward of the ends thereof, the other half of the sheet being transversely folded on a line interseating the longitudinal cuts but inward of the ends thereof.

4. A protective cover for commode seats comprising an approximately rectangular sheet of paper formed with a pair of longitudinally extending cuts, slightly converging toward the forward edge of the paper, and a transversely disposed cut disposed between the longitudinal cuts and terminating at points spaced therefrom and so located that when longitudinal strain is placed upon the sheet of paper across the transverse out, the paper will tear transversely from the transverse out, in opposite directions to the longitudinal cuts.

5., A protective cover for commode seats comprising an approximately rectangular sheet of paper formed with a pair of longitudinally extending cuts, slightly converging toward the forward edge of the paper, and an opening between the longitudinal cuts and spaced therefrom and so located that when longitudinal strain is placed upon the sheet of paper across the opening, the paper will tear transversely from the opening, in opposite directions to the longitudinal cuts.

6. A protective cover for commode seats, comprising a sheet of paper formed with a pair of longitudinally extending cuts, and an opening between the cuts and spaced therefrom and so located that when longitudinal strain is placed upon the sheet of paper across the opening, the paper will tear transversely from the opening in opposite directions to the longitudinal cuts.

In testimony whereof ll hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

KARL PUTSGHNER. Witnesses:

D, C. Bononnn, R. Ja Continent 

